Next time you stick your hand out to hail a cab, take a moment to consider some facts. In some other cities, taxi cabs aren’t allowed to operate after they surpass five years in age or 325,000 miles. And in some cities, salvaged cars aren’t allowed to operate as taxi cabs.
Megan Burks reports on how the cab you hailed here in San Diego may be as old as the hills, and has a good chance of bearing a salvaged title. San Diego restricts neither circumstance. “San Diego is, like, open,” said Mikaiil Hussein, president of United Taxi Workers of San Diego. Burks inspected the titles of all 1,086 of the taxis in San Diego and found that 40 percent were 10 years or older. “About 20 percent were salvage vehicles,” she wrote.
Startups and Downs in San Diego
If you’re trying to start a software company or another tech-centric company, you’ve got a lot of options when it comes to places to call HQ. Silicon Valley, Boston and Seattle are all hungry for more tech entrepreneurs to move in and grow. But so, increasingly, is San Diego.
Kelly Bennett discovered that the conversation about what San Diego’s burgeoning tech scene needs to grow is thriving, and institutions that support tech startups are popping up all over downtown. But there are problems. Namely, it’s money and mentorship; but also another problem that will be familiar to any Padres fan. “San Diego has always been the place where incredible innovation happens, and we get very few corporate headquarters in the end, because it gets acquired out of town,” said Martha Dennis, a venture capitalist.
Dirt-Cheap Parking? Bring on the Fact Check
Morning Report scribe Randy Dotinga couldn’t believe his eyes when he read a quote from Chester Mordasini, president of Teamsters Local 911, claiming that the new, more expensive parking rates at the San Diego Convention Center ($15 per day) were “the best deal on the West Coast right now.” Dotinga cast his gaze up and down the West Coast and, needless to say, found some problems with Mordasini’s claims.
Around Voice
Marguerite Smith wrote in to explain why she thinks the county Board of Supervisors isn’t putting people first, and why she thinks they oughta, starting with the In-Home Supportive Services program. “Our top priority should be funding the programs that strengthen our neighborhoods, and the workers who make those services happen.”
The Stumblr went deep into the streets of Clairemont to spy this questionable sidewalk patchwork. Maybe they should try duct tape?
Catch Up on the Public Records Debacle
The California Public Records Act helps ensure that citizens and journalists can get hold of government documents and keep government agencies accountable. But a fight in the legislature has ensued over the last two days over its fate. What in the heck is going on? Get up to speed using our Reader’s Guide to the CPRA brouhaha.
U-T San Diego reports the governor and both houses of the state Legislature now agree on restoring the public records mandate that was stripped from the originally-passed bill. Sausage-making will have to ensue to get the new bill to the governor’s desk.
This Day In Filner: Tempers Flaring, Mayor Talks Drugs
It was an ugly scene this Tuesday at a closed meeting where Filner ordered police to remove Assistant City Attorney Andrew Jones from the room. “He’s disruptive of this meeting,” Filner told his personal police detail, the U-T reported. Jones, who attended the meeting acting as City Attorney Jan Goldsmith’s surrogate, expressed his disappointment with Filner’s behavior, as did several City Council members who witnessed the eviction.
Filner spent some time in the hot seat yesterday taking questions about drug policy from Voice of San Diego’s CEO Scott Lewis. Filner was joined by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, who was promoting his son’s new documentary, “Breaking the Taboo” at the Museum of Photographic Arts.
When asked by Lewis if he would support an effort to decriminalize drugs, Filner was uncharacteristically tepid. “How brave do you want me to be? A political leader has to take a position but not go off the deep end,” he said. One can only marvel at what Filner must consider to be the deep end.
News Nibbles
- Decobike and San Diego are aiming for a three-month roll out of a public bike-sharing program starting in early 2014.
- The Padre Chava breakfast hall in Tijuana serves free breakfast daily, mostly to America’s deported immigrants. “This breakfast hall is a sort of staging ground for many people’s next steps,” writes KPBS.
- The U-T shows us what the land under the Sunrise Powerlink looked like before and after the transmission lines were installed.
- A new report confirms what has long been suspected: San Diego’s legal system is in deep distress.
- Those trees with vibrant purple blossoms all over San Diego? They’re jacaranda trees, and their ubiquity here is largely due to one organization and its donors.
- It’s that time of year: Here come the surfing dogs.
Things to Do During Your Border Wait
The San Diego/Tijuana border crossing is the busiest land border crossing we have, and the time it takes to cross it can easily stretch into hours. Some people have been expressing their exasperation with the border crossing experience on Yelp.
Have you ever wished that professional actors would re-enact those desperate Yelp reviews, adding a touch of flare and melodrama to the plights of bordered Yelpers? Yeah, me too. Fortunately, the Center for Investigative Reporting (which will soon be home to former Voice editor Andrew Donohue) has got us covered. Border-waiting complainers be warned, you’ll have to step up your game.
Seth Hall is a local writer and technologist. You can reach him at voice@s3th.com or follow him on Twitter: @loteck.